Main World - The BIG 1.8 Update

First up I will cover the updates, then will share my plans now I have updated this world to 1.8. First up after moving the old emergency Minecart exit, I realized I could use the space for something else if I opened up the area - previously a 3 - 5 block wide tunnel. After blocking it up, then un-blocking it again I finally thought of a use - a bunny home.

I was looking everywhere for somewhere to put them in the future and I didn't want them to go outside - or in with the dogs. Of course I will need to decorate it before hand,  I decided on patch work walls with wool (Needs patches of blac) and hay bale floor, the work so far:

Another thing I've done is finally get rid of this monstrosity from 2010! (Originally made of cobble.)

You can see how synthetic it is where the dirt is extended out from the mountain to meet the stairs, this was long over-due. My idea was to cut it right down until there was a 1/4 of stairs left and take the extended synthetic dirt filling supporting it right back - all the way back to the bare mountain wall revealing the original mountain wall again. From the stairs - a short gravel path by the birch tree farms up to the mountain wall where the stairs will now continue inside the mountain:

Meeting up with the adjoining path at the top:

With the remaining stairs left I put dirt up the sides of course to make it look more natural.



 1.8 plans

Doors & Fences - It goes without saying of course I'll be going around changing doors frantically, I already experimented on the creative copy and there won't be many original oak doors left. Similarly I will also look at fences and fence gates - whatever suits best.

Painless stained glass blocks/panes - Everywhere? Well almost. After updating the painterly texture pack to 1.8 I really wasn't sure about the very plain look without borders - until I changed the glass canopy ceiling of the back dining room porch, which currently looks like this:

Now looks like this:

I've used the red sand = red sandstone = red sandstone stairs. and yes it's blue in my world! My lore is that you have to smelt it (Even though you don't actually), and it loses it's color in the smelting process. In the first new picture I have also made the old cobble fort walls more HD being 3 blocks wide instead of just 1, it makes it look even more old, but then it was built in Alpha!

The main bridge - I said I might pull it down and with 1.8 that time has come. It's been there - and made of cobble since 2010 and hasn't really changed much over the years:

No bridge:

Earliest version:

No change in Beta!:

2011:

Autumn 2011 - present

So what to replace it with? Already I have taken spare older saves and tried a number of different designs, but one stuck with me. It is a work in progress however:

The roof platform underneath the main roof has since gone and there will be an underneath platform as well for fishing.

You may have notice in those pics the the church across the bridge has disappeared also! The original idea to was to just double the height, then I thought about how I could make it much bigger. one crazy idea involved boxing around the mountain around it and clearing out the inside but instead I settled for something much simpler. I decided to build on the grassy area behind the current church, although I would have to impede on the mountain a bit it would give me the length for a nice long church hall. It is still going to be double height and it would enable proper sized widows with proper stained glass. The old church would have to be demolished of course and incorporated.

Works:

I've also made more than a major push on the half-way house (last half of post.) You may remember in late 2013/early 2014 I started expanding the chunk walls either side. Last time I left the living room I had just added log timbers and trying to think of what to use for the walls:

Well I abandoned that fireplace, it all started with just making the living room windows full length instead of regular size, but then ideas expanded and I ended up turning it into a more rounded bay window - and that was just the start! I also begun changing the floor at last whilst I did this.

Later on, I Googled "Log cabins" to get inspired then looked at interiors and found one that did just that. Enough to put a peak on top of the chunk wall just above the spruce roof over-hand outside. This meant extra windows and light and a much higher peaked roof! Once i did this though, the chimney was off-center with the inside of the new roof so I had to adjust, which meant going over  into the storage room.

Now it's even on both side of the chimney but cut's into the storage room. So as the storage room is a bit smaller I mad an alcove - which turned into a set of stairs and building an extension above the storage room as well!

 

Extra Area: (For Anvil, incinerator & water source?)

I have also begun extending the science lab:

Looks like I will be getting a brand new look lab in 2015! Here are the plans:

• New walls with a feature back wall and 2x white-boards.
• Brand new floor using one of the new stone types.
• New bench design for the potion stands
• the ingredients lab (Spider eyes, glistening melons, flasks and water source) will also be extended back to match the new length of the main science lab.
• The new & improved Ingredients Lab will be come an area in it's own right with the new room length, It will now be a sterile room for handling featuring a small decontamination area between the entrance. (IE between two glass walls separating it from the other room.
• The other room being - a seating area and a small kitchen area. (As they will need to wash their hands!) Quite excited for doing that, it's really needed I think compared to the current lab .

I did contemplate a redstone testing area as well, backing onto the science lab but am not sure. However, that's not all!

I'm currently re-developing the rear lounge that over looks the pool & tennis court. (Above the V.I.P. room), again from playing around on my creative copy of the world. Not matter how I try to re-furbish it, it either doesn't look right or is too similar to something I've done. Then I had a brief thought about turning it back to nature and leaving it as a hole as it was back in Alpha. However, what I might do is very radical. After playing around, I decided to make that a much bigger en- suite bathroom to what I have.

Imagine that sized room as a bathroom! It's possible! The existing bathroom would become a new corridor, still leading to the V.I.P. room. The only problem I might have is not being able to have a working shower like I have now because of the space to hide the redstone, and; the ceiling being practically underneath the top of the mountain

Formerly:

 

Works:

Old bathroom:

With the new works there is no longer space for the stairs around the new bathroom location (Leading from the lounge extension up to the mountain roof top), so they have been filled in, no more direct access to the mountain to - from inside at least. I used the rest of that width to fill out the new bathroom shape. The hut on top has also been knocked down, thinking of making another private garden by removing the fences and copying my border walls of bricks, railings and bushes?

 A brand new idea (Only yesterday) was to extend the changing rooms by the swimming pool, further back into the mountain. Also: Maybe re-building my diving board but that means taking the back wall behind it back by 4 blocks, but it's achievable.

Bucket list:

• Nether bridge - Complete re-design (Maybe in the style of a nether fort) or demolish completely.
• Replace fencing with new type fencing or new standard iron railing/stone-brick block formation (As seen above ground by back patio)
• Fill new bunny room with bunnies!
• Decorate new office (Structure of room dug out in 1.7.10 - behind storage area, entrance to left of lava incinerator.)
• Improve dock?
• Finish off Library bookcases now the re-furnish is long done. (Mass cow farming)
• Finish off interior rooms, Half-way House.
• Finish off Mount DOOOOMMM.
• Finish off interior furnishing for apartment block!!!